Okay, you’ve signed up for Bridges. You’ve come to church a couple of times. You have a copy of the youth events calendar, now what should you do?

 

Your first step should be to familiarize yourself with the program. Meet with a youth leader or your minister to find out how things work. You can also check out the “Bridges: How does it work?” part of our website.

 

Next, take a look at one of the milestones brochures. You can find them online here, or ask your youth leader for a copy. It doesn’t matter which one you start with.

 

Go through the brochure and check off the learning experiences that sound interesting to you. Some of the events that are happening at church in the near future (or that you have just participated in) probably are designed to fulfill part of the requirements for Bridging. Asking your youth leader which learning experiences they recommend you tackle right now.

 

Then, look online to find the “rubric” for some of the learning experiences that you are interested in. The rubric lists activities that must be completed in order to finish this learning experience. Usually, some activities are required and others are optional (look for an asterisk * next to the number for choice activities – usually one to three choice activities are required for a learning experience. But you can choose any one of the marked activities). A sample rubric is below:

 

Learning Experience: How to Brush Your Teeth

 

Who is this for?          Youth who are between the ages of 11 and 19 and don’t like cavities.

What will I learn?      You’ll learn the proper way to care for your teeth.

 

What do I do to complete this Learning Experience?

	1. Visit the store with your parent and, with their help, pick out the best toothbrush for you. You’ll have different choices, such as tooth brushes for sensitive teeth, different bristle types, different sized heads, brushes with regular or more comfortable handles, electric or non-motorized brushes, and brushes for people with braces. Take a look at different options and choose the one the works best for you.
	2. After your next meal, take the brush out of the package and wet it. Put a pea-sized amount of paste on the bristles of the brush.
	3. Set a kitchen timer for two minutes.
	4. Gently but firmly, brush the bristles across your teeth. Make sure that you brush both the fronts and backs of your teeth, as well as the molars in the back of your mouth. Brush for at least two minutes.
	5. Swish your mouth out with water.
	6. Rinse off your brush and put it away in a place where it can dry out.
	*7. Using the internet, research the proper way to brush your teeth. What new tips or techniques did you learn?
	*8. Visit a dentist or other health professional and ask them to demonstrate the proper way to brush your teeth.  Share what you have learned with others in a creative way.
	*9. Learn about ways that people around the world brush their teeth. Why types of toothpaste do they use? What items do they use for brushes? Try some of the “toothpaste” substitutes out if you are able.

* Complete at least one of these.

 

I have completed all of the requirements for this learning experience.

 

Youth                                                                                      Date

 

Program Leader                                                                                   Date

 

 

Once you’ve chosen a learning experience, read through it and figure out which activity you want to do first. You can ask another youth or an adult to help you make this decision. Next, figure out what you will need to do this activity. Do you need to go someplace? Talk to a particular person? Research at the library or on the internet?

 

Once you’ve figured out the logistics, go ahead and complete your activity. Let your program leader know, so that the box next to the activity can be initialed. This indicates that you have successfully completed that particular activity.

 

Keep doing this until you finish all the required activities for this learning experience. If you’re working on this at home and won’t see your youth leader until Sunday, you can keep working on other activities, for the learning experience once you’ve finished one. But make sure that you make it easy for your youth leader to verify that you have actually completed the activity that you say you have (for instance, if you are supposed to read something and then write in your journal about it, bring your journal with you to church so that someone can glance at it and see that you did do the writing).

 

When you’ve completed all the activities for the learning experience, go over it with your youth leader and have them sign off on the bottom. You’ll sign your own name and put the date on the bottom as well. Make a copy of this and give the original to your youth leader, who will hold onto it for our records.

 

Then, start your next learning experience!

 

Once every few months, youth who have completed a learning experience will be recognized during a Sunday church service. Your youth leader will let you know when this is scheduled. You’ll need to arrive at church 20 minutes before the service to meet with your minister and the other youth who will be participating.

 

After you’ve completed a couple of learning experiences, you might want to go over the “Am I ready for Bridging?” worksheet with your youth leader. This will help you plan which milestone to work on next.